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The Heliosphere
'C: The HELIOSPHERE/HELIOSYSTEM' The Solar System/ Sol/ Apollo “In the Beginning...” “The five astronomers chiefly responsible for postulating, expanding, and refining the model of the solar system that we accept today were men of different backgrounds and personalities: Copernicus was a Pole, Tycho Brahe a Dane, Kepler a German: Galileo was Italian and Newton was English. Their life spans bridged two and a half centuries,...” SOLAR HISTORY 1. Archimedes. In the third century B.C., he proposed setting ships on fire by transferring solar heat with bronze shields. The archaeological evidence is scant that the Athenians actually adopted this method, but modern-day tests show it could have worked. Hydro-kinetic power owes him a debt, too. He did his best thinking in the bathtub. Socrates and Aristotle and Roman Architect Vitruvius and writer Pliny advocate for solar Architecture and Energy and Solar rights appear in 400 AD Justinian Code. 2. Edmond Becquerel. Back in the middle of the 19th century, France ruled greentech. In 1839, Becquerel discovered the photovoltaic cell while experimenting with an electrolyte cell. In that instant, the solar module industry was born 3. August Mouchet and Robert Stirling. In the early decades of the 1800s, Stirling invented the engine that bears his name. In 1860, Mouchet, a mathematician, proposed a solarpowered steam engine, which becomes a forerunner of parabolic solar thermal systems. The two chief schoo l s for solar thermal technology emerge here . (Hat tip to Clarence Kemp for devising the first solar thermal water heater in 1891 in Baltimore.) 4. Calvin Fuller, Daryl Chapin and Gerald Pearson. The trio created the first silicon photovoltaic cell at Bell Labs in 1954. It was only 4 percent efficient, but Bell raised the figure to 11 percent soon after. Today, the maximum efficiency for silicon PV is around 19 percent with a realistic limit at 25 percent. SunPower will soon be at 23 percent. 5. Arnold Goldman. Back in the 1980s and 1990s, the first solar thermal plants began to go online in California; one of the biggest producers was Goldman's company Luz. However, when California decided to let the property tax exemptions for solar thermal plants expire, Luz went under. But Goldman kept in contact with his engineers and researchers. And when conditions improved, Goldman helped found Luz II, otherwise known as BrightSource Energy. Solar thermal from a wide variety of vendors will account for gigawatts of power in North Africa and North America in a few years. Part hard-nosed businessman, part social philosopher, Goldman embodies the "do good, but profitably" attitude that characterizes the reborn green industry. 6. Harold McMaster. If you are outside of the solar industry, you're probably scratching your head. If you are in solar, you might be scratching your head, too. McMaster has long been a master of quiet understatement. An expert in tempered glass, McMaster founded First Solar in 1986. The company struggled for years until it gravitated toward cadmium telluride, a material that other solar manufacturers eschewed. VCs didn't invest in First Solar: members of the Walton family supported it. First Solar came out with its first cad-tel panels in 2002, zoomed toward its IPO in 2005, and became the largest solar panel maker in the world a few years later. 7. Zhengrong Shi. After picking up a PhD at the University of South Wales in Australia , Shi founded Suntech Power Holdings in September 2001. Based in Wuxi, Suntech was once just a blip on the radar, but the company grew fast. It went public in 2005 and now jostles with First Solar for the top spot in the solar market. Marking China's entry into solar, Suntech also wants to take on SunPower in high efficiency panels. 8. Hermann Scheer. (1944- 2010) The German parliamentarian helped design Germany's renewable program. Without him, solar may never have exploded. Was President of EUROSOLAR, The European Association for Renewable Energies and General Chairman of the World Council for Renewable Energy. Received the Alternative Nobel Prize in 1999, the World Solar Prize in 1998 and the World Prize for BioEnergy in 2000. Had a number of University Degrees, ie Economics etc. Wrote numerous book including the solar economy, Bibliography Table HELIOSPHERE/SYSTEM (Scientific References) Year TITLE and Pages Author Publisher Place ISBN # 2012 Universe Age 13.7 Billion, NASA Educational Outreach NASA Staff Email NASA USA ? 2002 21st Century Astronomy, Pages 140, 154, 186, 294, 462, 463, 478 and 529-530 Edited by John Byram, © USA ? # 0-393-97400-6 2000 Temperate Zones Dept of Agriculture USA Gov USA 1980 A Golden Thread: 2500 years of Solar Arch.... K. Butti & J Perlin Chesire Books Palo Atlo CA. 0 442 24005 8 or 0 917352 07 6 1969 CE/AD Worlds Around the Sun Lee Edson with Carl Sagan Smithsonian Institute N.Y. USA SBN#: 8281 0001 2 Lib Cong # 69 16305 1200 BCE/BC Book of Genesis Holy Bible Abraham/Moses Holy Spirit Middle East Public Domain